1. Following social media reports of fire breakout at the Department of the Accountant General at Capital Hill on the evening of Saturday, 18th October 2014, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development (MOFEPD) would like to inform members of the general public and all stakeholders that there was no such fire. What caused the alarm however was a strong smell of burning plastics and smoke as a result of overheating of three fluorescent light tubes in the corridor on the ground floor of the East Wing of the Accountant Generals department building!

2. The overheating of the fluorescent tubes had the potential to cause fire, however due to the vigilance and precaution taken by the security officers on duty at the office to notify senior management and other stakeholders like ESCOM, Police and the City Council helped to manage the situation and prevent fire break out. The area that was affected by this incident is the corridor on the ground floor leading to the computer laboratory which is used for training of IFMIS users throughout the Government.

3. The MOFEPD therefore wishes to inform the general public and all its stakeholders in all Ministries and Departments that IFMIS servers have been switched on after a precautionary temporary shutdown on the evening of 18th October 2014 to allow for proper inspections. This follows a thorough office inspections by technical experts from the Buildings Department, Police and ESCOM who have certified the building safe of any electrical fault. The MOFEPD therefore wishes to advise MDAs that the office of the Accountant General has immediately resumed its normal services including the processing Government payments.

4. As a long term measure the MOFEPD has embarked on a comprehensive preventive maintenance program to check for any faults be it electrical or otherwise in the building to prevent any such incidents that maybe a source of anxiety and speculation among the public.

Ministry of Finance Economic Planning and Development

P.O. Box 30049

Capital Hill

Lilongwe 3

Email: finance@finance.gov.mw

19th October 2014